First off, I have to say that my sincere condolences go out to the families, friends and all others who were affected by the tragic deaths of the Sago miners. My thoughts and prayers were with the families from the minute the news broke about the explosion a few days ago, continued to be with them as I watched the news coverage of the mine search and rescue last night, and they continue to be with them now as we've all learned of the 12 miners' deaths and as the families mourn the passing of their loved ones.
But what I also feel compelled to address in this post is my severe concern with the miscommunication that happened last night, and the perpetuation of this miscommunication by the media.
As I watched Anderson Cooper and Randi Kaye live last night on CNN, I was as first disheartened by the discovery of the one miner's body found dead. Then, I was elated by the breaking news that the rescue teams found the 12 remaining miners alive. But, as I watched Anderson hear the breaking news from passers-by, I immediately had a sinking feeling in my stomach about how he was getting the news.
When Anderson first heard of the news, he was shocked and began immediately asking others around him about the news. He specifically asked a gentleman, a friend of one of the trapped miners, what he was hearing, and the gentleman reported that he had heard, from a mine official, that the rescuers found the 12 remaining miners alive. Anderson then immediately stated that the report of the miners being found alive was not yet confirmed, which I thought was a very wise thing to do on his part. But, as quickly as the news seem spread within the community, CNN flashed "Alive! Alive!" on the bottom of the screen and Anderson and Randi began to interview community members and family members of the miners as to how they were receiving the positive news. I was shocked to see how CNN neglected to confirm the reports and continued to have concern regarding the accuracy of the news until I went to bed last night (about an hour after the breaking news).
So, when I woke this morning and flipped on my favorite Minneapolis radio station and heard, 12 miners confirmed dead and one miner in critical condition, I was saddened immediately by the loss, but also by the role of the media in this situation.
What truly is the media's role in such a situation and what are the media's responsibilities when reporting this information? From my journalistic training and my background working with the media, my understanding is that the media has a responsibility to fact check and disseminate accurate and objective information.
Now, I understand that the media was restricted from accessing the mine officials and were not allowed to go beyond a certain point at the scene and without an official press conference, the media was left to relay on hearsay. However, doesn't the media also have the responsibility to question the "report" just like they question every other thing said by companies and/or other sources they talk to when covering other stories?
I am not bashing Anderson Cooper or CNN for that matter, because many other media outlets did the same thing. What I am doing though is challenging the media to respect and to adhere to the journalistic professional guidelines in order to best report such news in a fashion that avoids such perpetuation of inaccuracies and avoids causing a double tragedy as we witnessed last night.
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Of course, there are all the PR related issues surrounding this event and the reporting of it in the aftermath of this that Sago Mine and the media outlets face, but I don't even want to get in to that at this point. Perhaps in a future post...
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